Istituzione Gian Franco Minguzzi

Projects for Mental Health and Social Inclusion

Who We Are

The Gian Franco Minguzzi Institution was established in 1980 by the Bologna Provincial Government as a research and documentation centre on the history of psychiatry and social exclusion. In time, the Institution has expanded its mission, by planning and implementing processes of change within networks and social organisations, both formal and informal, both in the public sector and in the social economy, with the aim of fostering a culture of social inclusion.

Gian Franco Minguzzi, medical psychologist, was a researcher, professor of psychology, national secretary of the association Democratic Psychiatry. He worked with Franco Basaglia and Ferruccio Giacanelli in the movement of ideas that led to the promulgation of Law 180/1978 by which the asylums have been overcome establishing the mental health services planning.

Organization and Staff

The Institution is managed by a President, a Director and a Board of Management. Its staff includes professionals with different qualifications and experiences, who have long been working in the field of the social policies.

The Institution has three main areas of operation: Administration; Documentation and Cultural Promotion; Training, Research and Social Innovation.

Methodology and Partnership

In order to deal with social complexity, the Institution adopts a multidisciplinary approach.

The Institution promotes projects which ensure the interdependence of the research, training and documentation phases, working to promotes a constant connection between research and its practical applications. Its aim is to support planning and project design within organisations and to promote the development of inter-institutional links at network level.

The Institution works in partnership with

- public bodies

- public health system

- non-profit organizations

- education and training agencies

- European and private partners

One of the major partnership is with the University of Bologna and research institutions at local, regional and national levels.

Projects and Areas of Intervention

Developing a constant integration between the different activities it is involved in, the Institution:

- produces innovative research and methods for the study of social phenomena;

- designs and implements training activities, based on dynamics which focus on managing the complexity of social inclusion phenomena;

- elaborates and produces social documentation and communication in collaboration with numerous organisations and associations;

The Service covers subject areas such as psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, neurology, and social sciences focusing on issues such as addiction, social exclusion, urban safety, the history of social welfare institutions.

The Service has over 15,000 volumes, provides extensive documentation scientific psychiatry and psychosocial.

The Library is proposed as a Centre for Bibliographic Services and Consulting teachers, researchers, students, social and health workers and all citizens concerned.

The study room complete with computer stations for literature searches, is often used for cultural activities such as book presentations.